Machine for minging whale-blubber



. P CUNNINGHAM Machine forMin oing Whale Blabber. No. 232,691;

Patented Sept. 28,1880.

wb'fcetsus/es To all whom it may concern:

more fully hereinafter explained.

E ITED STATES 1 PATENT Fries-g.

MACHINE FOR MINGING WHALE-BLU BBER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,691, dated September 28, 1880. Application filed October 31, 1879.

Be it known that I, PATRIOK CUNNINGHAM, ofNew Bedford, county ofBristol, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Mincing Whale-Blubber, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to enable the work of inincin g whale-blubber to be performed with less labor and with a considerable saving of oil, the manner of attaining this end being The accompanying drawing is a view, in perspective, of my invention.

In the drawing, A is the frame of the machine, on the top of which is placed the shaft 0, which shaft is furnished with the crank O and the bevel-gears E and g. At right angles with the shaft 0 is placed the shaft B, which is furnished with the balance-wheel A, the knife B, and the bevel gear h, which gear meshes with the bevel-gear g on the shaft 0, so that when the crank O is turned the knife B is caused to revolve. To the frame A is also hung the shaft E, which shaft is furnished with the worm-gear d and the bevel-gear d, which bevel-gear meshes with the bevel-gear E, by which means motion is imparted to the shaft E.

The box or trough O is attached to the frame A at right angles with the face of the knife B, and in such a manner as to be adjustable vertically.

To the under side of the box 0 are hung the shafts a", Z), c, and 7c". The shaft to is furnished with the spur-gear a, the gear a, and a chain-wheel, (which is not shown in the drawing,) which chain-wheel occupies a position in the center of the shaft or, between its bearings, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

The shaft 1) is furnished with the loose pinion band a pulley, the same as is shown at n.

Around the chain-pulley on the shaft a,before described, and the pulley attached to the shaft b, is placed an endless chain of lags, which lags are furnished with spurs, as shown at c. This lag-chain is adjusted to the bottom of the box 0 in such a manner that the spurs project a. short distance through the slots, which are made longitudinally in the metallic bottom of the box 0, as shown at n.

The'shafts c and 7c are duplicates of and are furnished in all respects the same as the shafts a and I), with the exception of the loose pinion I), this pinion being for the purpose of imparting motion from the first pair ofshafts, a and b to the second or duplicate pair, 0 and 70. These two pairs of shafts and their furnishings, just described, constitute the feed of the machine, motion being imparted to the feed 1 by means of the worm-gear d acting upon the spur-gear a, thus producing a continuous and steady motion to the feed. The sides of the box (3 are cut nearly through, as shown at m, so as to allow the knife B to revolve freely. The knife B has a volute edge and the blade is spirally arranged upon its shaft, where it is held in position by the spiral-faced collarst '5, which are secured against its opposite sides.

The operation of the machine is as follows A piece of blubber is placed in box 0, and the crank being turned the blubber is carried forward to the knife by the operation of the feed, when that part of the knife I commences to cut, and as the knife revolves the out is finished by the part of the knifeedge Z, thus obtaining the easiest cutpossibleviz., a long drawing stroke.

It will be observed that the knife B makes a complete revolution at each cut, and the whole length of the knife-edge passes through the blubber laterally, while the vertical cut, on ac count of the spiral shape of the knife, is only about one-eighth of said length of the knifeedge.

Whale-blubber is of a spongy nature, and in order to slice it in pieces of uniform thickness it is necessary to have about the above-mentioned proportion of drawing stroke to vertical out. It is also necessary that the slices should be of uniform thickness in order that the oil may render properly.

The knife is made to take a spiral or screw form 011 its shaft, so that the edge of the knife in making the cut may follow the motion of the feed, thus preventing the crowding of the blubber against the knife.

I am aware that knives have been placed spirally on the shaft, in order that the knifeedge may advance in even speed with the material out, but I.do not claim anything in this regard.

I am aware that mincing-machines have been provided with broad flat spiral-edged knives, as in the patents of J. D. Hall, dated February 14, 1865, and numbered 46,350, and W. Vine,

granted May 10, 1859, and numbered 23,966 and I do not claim said knives or anything shown in said patents.

I am also aware that the revolving knives and a spur-feed chain of a mincing-machine have been operated by intermediate gear-connection with a common prime mover, as in the patent of Uluney 8t Lepine, dated April 14, 1874, and numbered 149,640, and do not claim this construction broadly.

-Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for mincing whale-blubber, the combination, with the feed-box 0, having the slots min its sides and the longitudinal slots n in its bottom, of the knife B, having the spiral or volute edge arranged to play transversely through said feed-box and slots m, the feed-chain provided with spurs pro- 25 jecting through said slots n, and a common prime mover connected by intermediate mechanism with said knife and chain, substantially as described. A

2. In a machine for lnincing whale-blubber, the combination, with a feed-box and a traveling feed-chain provided with spurs projecting through longitudinal slots in the bottom of said box, of a knife formed of a smooth plate, continuous from center to periphery and having a spiral or volute edge playing transversely through said feed-box, substantially as described.

8. In a machine for mincing whale-blubber, the combination of the shaft B, carrying the bevel-Wheel h and volute knife 13, the shaft 0, carrying the bevel-wheels g and E and crank O, the shaft E, carrying Worm d, and the feedchain provided with spurs and operated by intermediate gear-connection with said Worm at, substantially as described.

PATRICK CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses F. A. MILLIKEN, WILLIAM H. WILLIAMS. 

